Footsteps: From Ferrante’s Naples to Hammett’s San
Francisco: Literary Pilgrimages Around the World ed. Monica Drake
Monica Drake has mined The
New York Times travel column “Footsteps” archives and has assembled almost
forty columns, each examining what influence a particular geographical location
had on an author, or in some cases, following in the footsteps of that author
to learn why a specific place was so important in their body of work, or
perhaps one particular book. These
essays have been then divided into three categories “The United States”, “Europe”,
and “Beyond” allowing the reader to choose a reading order that best suits
them. The United States stretches from
Hawaii (Mark Twain) to the Northwest (Jack Kerouac) to the Northeast (Rachel
Carson) to the Deep South (Flannery O’Connor).
While some of the geographical influences may be more obvious, such as Hammett
in San Francisco, some essays expound on the author’s delights of an area. In Europe, novelist Charlie Lovett finds
Alice in Oxford, James Baldwin’s days as an expatriate in Paris are recounted, and
one essay depicts David G. Allen’s search for Hansel and Gretel in the woods of
Germany. “Beyond” essays take readers to
the Canada of L.M. Montgomery, the South America of Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Jorge
Luis Borges, and Pablo Neruda; an essay of Pushkin’s St. Petersburg nestles
between one of Arthur Rimbaud in Ethiopia, and Orhan Pamuk in Istanbul. Whether read cover to cover, coast to coast, continent
to continent, or just skipping around as the mood or travel itinerary dictate,
this collection will not only broaden understanding about favorite authors but
encourage readers to seek out some new horizons.
FTC Disclaimer:
I received this book from the Blogging for Books program in exchange for
this review.
